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A leather-bound guestbook, made in Estonia, about how memory ties us to place.

Artefact from a two-week Sensorial Design residency at the Estonian Academy of Arts.

  • Artist · 2024
  • Craft
  • Bookbinding
  • Residency
Mälestused leather-bound guestbook

I attended a two-week design residency at the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA), collaborating with students from both OCAD University and EKA to explore the intersection of analogue and digital materials through Sensorial Design. Working in multidisciplinary teams, we experimented across the Ceramics Studio, Digital Prototyping Lab, Digital Weaving Studio, Leather Accessory Studio, and VR Lab, creating sensorial artefacts that merged physical and digital elements.

As part of the residency I produced Memories/Mälestused, an artefact inspired by guestbooks and their role in connecting memory to place. The piece reflects the history and legacy of traditional Estonian craft and invites collaborative expressions of the emotions, thoughts, and feelings that tie us to specific places, exploring how memories shape our sense of belonging and identity.

Cutting the leather for the cover to sizeEmbossing the cover
Cutting the leather cover to size, then embossing it; the design shows the national costume of Estonia.
Making the page gatheringsStitching the gatherings to the cover
Making the page gatherings and stitching them to the cover.
Exhibition poster featuring Memories/MälestusedThe finished Memories/Mälestused artefact
The exhibition poster and the finished artefact.
Mälestused on display at Angaar Instituut, Põhjala tehas, TallinnMälestused on display in the Ignite Gallery, OCAD University, Toronto
On display at Angaar Instituut, Tallinn (August 2024) and the Ignite Gallery, OCAD University, Toronto (September 2024).